On Thursday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) began deploying ad hoc staff and distributing sensitive materials to the various local government areas for Saturday’s off-cycle governorship election in Kogi.

INEC resident electoral commissioner in Kogi, Gabriel Longpet, disclosed this in Lokoja.

Mr Longpet said the commission was 100 per cent prepared for the poll. He added that the arrival of the sensitive materials in Kogi through the Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday completed their preparation.

“We shall be at CBN for the distribution of the sensitive materials to the 3,508 polling units in the various local government areas. We had inspected the materials on Tuesday and today, Thursday, we are distributing them in readiness for Saturday’s off-cycle governorship election in Kogi,” stated Mr Longpet.

The INEC official added, “We expect that the staff and the materials will be ready at the LGAs by 12:00 noon for onward movement to the wards and RACs by 4.00 p.m. Again, we expect that they will be in the various RACs by Saturday morning, say 6:00 a.m., with all the staff set for the commencement of the election.

“We try as much as possible to ensure that those who are at far distant locations get to their locations without any delay. It’s in Lokoja here that you have some of the farthest places in the state, very difficult areas to reach. It takes between seven and eight hours to get to Kupa community.”

Mr Longpet called on Kogi residents to come out en masse to vote for candidates of their choice since the security operatives have given assurance of adequate security during the election.

(NAN)